MOSCOW, November 28. /TASS/. The Administration of US President-elect Donald Trump could try to launch a direct dialogue with the North Korean authorities, former Russian Ambassador to Japan, Alexander Panov, said on Monday.

According to Panov, under Obama, the Americans pursued the policy that no dialogue with North Korea would be possible until it gave up its missile program.

"The sanctions pressure was used, but it had little effect, and there were no positive developments. The situation only got worse, and there was no result whatsoever," Panov told the Primakov Readings international conference.

"What will Trump do? In his speeches during the election campaign, Trump said that the North Korean leader deserves respect and he has nothing against eating a hamburger with him somewhere. One can assume that the Americans could launch a direct dialogue with the North Korean leadership, and this is something the North Koreans want. They do not need this group of six world powers at all," the expert said.

He recalled that there had been a similar situation under US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton "when such a dialogue began to unfold."

"The six-party talks (involving Russia, North Korea, South Korea, China, the US and Japan - TASS) and the P5+1 (bringing together five UN Security Council permanent members plus Germany - TASS) are not the framework that will yield results," the former ambassador said. "To achieve results, it is necessary to hold a more serious international conference under UN auspices to make sure that the ceasefire on the peninsula is replaced by peace."